• SSP Thalduwa claims instructions not followed by those with security threats 

The lack of interest of individuals with security related threats to inform the Police of such, and to seek support is a significant problem in eliminating crimes including shootings which are currently on the rise, according to the Police. In recent times, there has been a clear rise in crimes including shootings, particularly in the Western and Southern Provinces.

When contacted by The Daily Morning, the Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Attorney Nihal Thalduwa said that there is a possibility to advise those with security-related threats if they inform the relevant Police stations of the matter. "There are only two ways for the Police to know that someone is having a threat. Either through a complaint from the individual with the threat, or via information from someone who is close to them. If none of these happen, there is almost no way for us to find out about any threats that the person has." 

Even if the Police is informed by some individual that they are having a threat, he said that the Police would definitely take action regarding the matter. "There is a limit to what we can do. For instance, we cannot deploy officers with weapons to them. It is also not possible to deploy officers to those who commit certain crimes. They too would not like to have officers as their activities may be affected. Instead, we can increase patrols around the residential area of the relevant individual, and advise them to be cautious. We are already doing it, but most of them don’t follow our instructions." Thalduwa further said that there are several reasons for the non-exposure of such threats. "There are reasons for these individuals' hesitance to reach out to us. For instance, if someone who is married and has kids is having threats, they can’t leave their family for protection. They also cannot find out from where and who exactly the threat is from. Another issue is that most of these threats are associated with crimes such as drug trafficking. They don’t allow their secrets to come out. Some individuals don’t inform even their family members that they have an issue."

The Police recently said that a total of 23 people had been shot to death, while nearly 10 individuals had sustained injuries due to shootings in Sri Lanka as of late May 2023. In addition to shootings, more than 200 homicides had also been reported as of late May. According to data revealed by the Police, only 273 incidents of homicides had been reported in 2019, while the number had risen to 523 last year (2022).

Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles had recently ordered Inspector General of Police Chandana D. Wickramaratne to strictly enforce the law regarding perpetrators. He said that no one would be allowed to exert undue influence in the enforcement of the law against such individuals, and that he had received an assurance in that regard from President and Defence Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.